Are writing conferences worth the money?

Posted on 05/06/2013 by | 3 Comments

I just returned from a writing conference where an attendee asked, “Are writing contests worth the time and money?”

“It depends,” the presenter said. “Is it a well-known contest? Will you get any feedback?”

I could say the same thing about writers’ conferences.

Most of the writers I know have more than one job: they work to pay bills, and they also write. Digging up a couple hundred bucks to attend a conference, not to mention making time to go, can be daunting. It’s too expensive. It’s too far. The kids need braces.

I’ve been on both sides of the fence. I’ve organized writers’ conferences so I know how expensive they are to host. I’ve also been the writer staring at a brochure, trying to justify squeezing money from an already tight budget. 

But I am a writer. How can I improve if I don’t mingle with my peers?

Other professionals—accountants, attorneys, bankers, and lawyers—attend conferences and workshops to stay current with their industry. Why shouldn’t I?

I’ve been writing a fair amount of time, and I’ve attended many writers’ conferences. Some were good, some not so good, but I always gleaned something, even if it’s something not to do—like answer a text message in the middle of a presentation. Besides the current information on craft and submissions, what I find even more valuable is a word most introverted writers hate, “networking.” As writers, we sit alone in our office creating great stories, and now we are expected to extend our hand, introduce ourselves and tell everyone what we write. It’s painful, but where else but writers’ conferences can you discuss the craft of writing with other serious writers? We know they’re serious because they’ve spent the kids’ lunch money (just like we did) to attend.

Maybe the biggest reward for attending writers’ conferences is the energy that percolates from the meeting rooms, filling the halls and building with palpable enthusiasm, propelling us home eager to finish our novel or book of poetry. As Mastercard says, “Priceless.”  

Only you can decide if entering contests or attending conferences is worth your time and money. Before you decide, I would encourage you to look at writers’ conferences as opportunities to grow your career and improve your craft. Take a risk; put yourself out there. Ask questions. After a session, thank the speaker. Shake his/her hand and ask for a business card. Network. Talk about what you love most, writing. And in the meantime, get busy saving those pennies.

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Lance Thompson at the 2013 Idaho Writers and Readers Rendezvous talking about log lines.

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Alan Heathcock talking about originality.

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Alvin Greenberg and Doug Copsey

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Prompt your writing

Posted on 04/24/2013 by | Leave a comment

It never does get any easier. Writing, that is.

Sometimes, your writer’s brain feels like last week’s laundry. Sometimes, your fingers just refuse to move. Sometimes, you wonder what the heck you’re doing trying to tell a story.

What to do?

Try a writing prompt.  I’ve been writing longer than I like to admit and these are valuable to stir me up. I like to call prompts another word—exercises. You exercise your body, so why not your craft?

My critique group and I have yearly retreats and use writing prompts for fun, for challenge, and for practice. Each year, I flesh out at least two short stories from the prompts, which basically give you something to write about. Sometimes you might have to write a scene with no dialogue, or all dialogue. To put yourself in someone’s shoes, or emphasize a specific emotion.  They’re good when you need a kick in the pants.

Where do you find such prompts? They’re all over the place. Writer’s Digest.Com usually posts several for you to use.  Recently they posted a column that you’ll find at http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/7-creative-writing-prompts-to-spark-your-writing?et_mid=612162&rid=22058720

Here is an example of one of the prompts. “You and your three closest friends decide to go camping. You arrive and set up camp nearly three miles away from where you left your car. Late that evening, as you sit around the campfire roasting marshmallows, one of your friends reveals a deep dark secret that turns what was to be a fun weekend into one of the scariest weekends of your life.” This one already has me intrigued.

Any good writing book will also contain prompts. One of the best I’ve found is “The Virginia Woolf Writers’ Workshop” by Danell Jones. I love this book because it offers writing “sparks” on everything from character development to the senses. Glimmer Train also has several books to prompt your pen or computer, as the case may be.

So flex those gray cells and stretch that imagination with a prompt.

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Writing the small stuff may lead to something bigger

Posted on 03/31/2013 by | Leave a comment

by Dixie Thomas Reale

How can I find time to do serious writing when nuisance writing chores keep copping up?

Just because you aren’t working on the great American Novel or some epic poem doesn’t mean you should not do your best when writing whatever you need to write. Many day to day opportunities come along that require you to write something — a few well-chosen words to mark an occasion — a wedding toast, a baby’s christening, a friend’s birthday.

Most of these events are no big deal and you can often get by with a few sentences, but if you craft your toast or comments well enough, and allow your creativity free reign — who knows what masterpiece might evolve from your words?

I had an opportunity recently. My daughter got married in Australia to an Australian fellow. I wanted to mark the occasion with some well-crafted words so decided to write a toast for the reception.

I asked the mother of the groom for information about his childhood. Then I listed out details from my daughter’s childhood.

They both had some interesting events listed and I played around with the idea of one child growing up in America while the other grew up in Australia. I needed a creative way to draw them together in adulthood so they could marry. Having them think about and long for one another before they met was just too hokey.

Then I got an idea and settled on two wild puppies. One was a girl coyote who grew up at the top of the world near the Yellowstone Volcano; the other was a boy dingo from Down Under who grew up near Ayres rock. With my make believe baby dogs I could get as fanciful as I wanted.

So, I had fun. She sang with her pack into the lava tubes in the Craters of the Moon and he howled with his mates across the Outback. The puppies didn’t know about one another, but heard the other’s singing coming back to them from the deepest part of their respective caves. Soon they were meeting every night to sing together — he in limestone caves on the Outback and she in lava tubes on the Snake River Plain

He invited her down under. She caught a ride on the back of a giant bird. They fell in love, married and lived happily ever after.

Once I finished the toast I liked it so much I decided to revise it slightly, add illustrations and use it for a children’s book.

If I had not labored over that toast I would not have my children’s story. So don’t knock the small stuff. It may evolve into something great that you can use elsewhere.

Now, let’s see what I can do with the grocery list.

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Do You Believe in Ghosts?

Posted on 03/27/2013 by | Leave a comment

Check out Gaye Bunderson’s review of Hauntings from the Snake River Plain in the November 12, 2012 issue of Idaho Magazine.

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Thanks Kitty Delorey Fleischman, publisher and editor of Idaho Magazine, and writer Gaye Bunderson.

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How to write a compelling story.

Posted on 02/28/2013 by | Leave a comment

Shortly after seeing the musical, Les Misérables, I ran across this post by Joe Bunting: How to Write a Story Like Les Miserables

http://thewritepractice.com/les-miserables/

It started me thinking. Why do some stories like Les Misérables, Jane Eyre, and Moby Dick have such staying power? They were written over a hundred years ago. What makes them so compelling artists find new ways to retell them, over and over again?

Bunting believes five elements make a story compelling.

1. Your character has to change. He calls this test transformation. We want to see how characters change, how they struggle to become a better people.
2. Write about something with historic significance like the revolutionary war, or some other life-changing event for a country, not just one person.
3. Have a big cast, many characters people can relate to. Instead of a story about one man’s journey, create a story about many character’s journeys.
4. Show what your characters want. Give every character an arc. This gives us more characters to root for. To use Bunting’s example: Jean Val Jean wants to be righteous. (man against self) Inspector Javert wants to catch Jean Val Jean. (man against man) Cosette wants to be loved by a family. Marius wants both Cosette and the revolution. (man against society) Éponine wants Marius, and The Thénardiers want money.
5. Sacrifice Everything. In his book The Writer’s Journey, Christopher Vogler calls this rebirth. A character who risks everything for a virtuous goal, including his life, returns a hero and someone worthy of our respect.

In school we’re taught there are three story types: man against man, man against society, and man against self. If a writer can incorporate all three, his story has a better chance of being compelling, one others will want to relate over and over again.

The next time you sit down to write, ask yourself, why is this story important? What can I add to make it more compelling? Then pick up your pen and begin to write.
-Bonnie Dodge

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New Year’s resolutions be damned. Get to writing

Posted on 01/02/2013 by | Leave a comment

It is 2013.

A New Year for most of us who aren’t time travelers.  So this is the time that we’re all making plans and dreams, resolutions and promises to ourselves on what we hope to accomplish in the new year.

Lose weight. Quit smoking. Drink less. Laugh more. Beat that addiction to reality shows.

I make no resolutions. I only decide what I need to do in the coming months.

I plan to finish rewriting one manuscript in one month, then finish my YA mystery by this summer and simultaneously start research on my new adult mystery.

Whoa.

 Am I insane? Making all these promises to myself to accomplish all that.

You see, even if it wasn’t the new year, I’d be doing the same thing. Set writing goals.

With or without the partying (which I did). With or without tuning in to Dick Clark’s New Year’s party (which I did and which is still on TV despite Dick’s passing to my surprise), I have made my plans for what I need to do as a writer.

I am one of those people who must set goals and timelines for myself or nothing will get done. So after putting away all my Christmas décor, which is quite a job, I will tackle the first of my goals and start rewriting my YA manuscript.

I have nothing against New Year’s Resolutions. But they only come once a year.

Setting goals is year round.

– Patricia Santos Marcantonio

 

 

 

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What does a room of my own mean to you?

Posted on 12/02/2012 by | Leave a comment

When asked what one needs in order to write, Virginia Wolf said she needed “500 pounds and a room of my own.”

What do you think she meant? Was she saying that she needed exactly “500 pounds” as money in her day was measured? I do not think so. I think she was saying that she needed an income comfortable enough that the basic necessities of life were covered. Enough money that she did not have to worry where her next meal was coming from, or wonder if she could pay the rent. After all if I am always hungry and worried that I may be thrown out into the street and be homeless at anytime, I’m not going to be able to focus on similes and metaphors.

I believe “A room of my own” could mean a whole house or just a small corner of a room. It doesn’t matter. Many years ago I was sorting boxes of old magazines I wanted to keep for reference, into order by date of issue. I had so many magazines that I had to spread them out on the living room floor. It was the only space large enough. I’d spent an entire afternoon lining them up into rows and moving them from one area of a row to another as I worked through many years and months of dates. I was about halfway through when I had to stop to get dinner for my family.

When the evening dishes were finally done and the kitchen back in order I returned to the living room to resume my sorting. My magazines had been gathered up and thrown into a huge heap in the corner of the room. Nobody would admit to the deed, but I knew then the living room was not “my room.”

In my room or my own space I can spread out my projects and nobody will bother them. I can lay my papers and books on a table or on the floor if I wish and leave them there all strung out and in disarray. If this is truly “my own room” when I come back my papers will be exactly where I left them. Nothing will be touched. That I believe is what she means by “A room of my own.”

I recently staked out a room of my own from vacated rental space that the tenant no longer wanted. It is 20 feet by 22 feet with a huge storage area. It is in an area where I do not think I will be able to re-rent it easily, So, it is mine.

In my room I will put my favorite books, a library table, a music maker of some sort, my computer and printer, plenty of reference books, a big easy chair or recliner, reading lamp, coffee table, inspirational pictures on the wall, and enough shelves in my storage area to hold paper, ink supplies, glue, staples, paper clips, pencils, notebooks, paper cutters, laminating machines. I want plenty of daylight and maybe even a dorm sized refrigerator and microwave for snacks. The room will be comfortable enough that I will want to spend time there.

Who knows I may even store some folding chairs in the closet for friends or students, in case I decide to invite someone over or host a seminar in my space.

Right now I am measuring for carpet and plan to put a curse on any who disturbs my space. There will be an amulet above the door.

Dixie Thomas Reale

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